Wednesday, April 20, 2011

New Hearing Aid

February 23Check Spelling

Lucey was fitted with her very own hearing aid. Lucey has been wearing a loaner since last fall. We had a dilemma...which one should we go with? The BAHA made by Cochlear or the Ponto made by Oticon. She has had a Ponto on loan and does extremely well with it. She hears almost normal on both sides when she has it on. The only issue was that our hospital where she has her surgeries does not deal with the Ponto. Only BAHA. I was set to change over to the BAHA but after talking to the specialist, she made a great case for sticking with the Ponto. So there....we will have to find a surgeon, when it's time, to surgical attach it to her mastoid bone. That will be another few years. I'll cross that bridge when we get to it.


I don't have a picture of her wearing her new aid. Darn! So here is a sweet picture to enjoy.



This is the Ponto aid, color too. It's on a black band so it blends in with her hair. The round center holds removable stickers. Right now she has a red and pink sticker with a heart. She likes changing up her style. HA!




This is the BAHA. The one we did not choose. We hear it gives more feed back. So far, Lucey's aid has been good about not making the squealing sounds. I also hear that their customer service can be difficult. That's only what I have heard.

If you have any questions about the aids....I can share what I know. I'm very happy she has one and she let's me know that she needs to wear it when she has it off.


xoxo

beth

Andrew and Christian's 13th birthday

February 15

13!! Unbelievable....Andrew and Christian are teenagers. I am a Mom of 3 teenage boys. Seriously! When I tell people that I have three teenage boys they look at me like I'm nuts. Little do they know that my boys are amazingly wonderful.


Their birthday fell on a weekday so I had doughnuts for them before school.



Look at poor Andrew (on left); little did I know he was feeling terrible. He went to school. I took Lucey to school and went to the salon...minutes before my stylist put color on my hair the school nurse called to let me know Andrew was in her office....vomiting. I sat there for a moment. Is there any way around this....I was 30 min. from home. I always cancel hair appointments due to some drama. I felt terrible for thinking I could have a neighbor pick him up...I did the right thing....I left the chair and drove straight to the school......it was his birthday and he needed to be in bed...or near the toilet.



Aunt Bunny sent them their favorite cookies....her homemade butter cookies. They are out of this world. Do you see those two big bags she sent all the way from Germany.





The following weekend they had some buddies over to spend the night. The boys would much rather have pie than cake. They chose blueberry and lemon pie. These kids are good kids. Easy to have around.





Mark is fun, he is the guy on top....he is also the oldest of the group. He is good natured about his size. I think that's great.


Back to their actual birthday....this gift was from the Smith family....wrapped so pretty. Thank you everyone, all of our friends and family who gave such generous gifts. The boys were spoiled.



Christian is number 20....his last basketball game fell on his birthday. Ron was out of town, Adam was busy at school, Andrew was at home sick so it was just Lucey and I there cheering him on. We were running a little late....I walked in at his end of the court just in time to see him score a basket and to get pushed over to earn him two more shots. He made those shots! What a great birthday gift for him.


Lucey....always so good natured about cheering on the players.


The cute cheerleaders.


They lost their last game....actually it was a pretty rough season for the Tigers. They learned a lot and became better. I hope Christian's will try again next year!


xoxo

beth

Nana and Papa Visit

February 13th (or so.....)






My parents came for a visit and dropped off their little black schnauzer, Sammy. We took care of Sammy for about 3 weeks. In the top picture Sammy is nestled in my Dad's arm....he does not like to share his lap with Lucey. Lucey does not like to share his lap with Sammy. It's a funny little battle they have.


xoxo

beth



Valentine's Day

February 14






Lucey signed all of her Valentine cards this year all by herself. This is one for her teacher.






She went to school with a gift for Mrs. Staples, stickers and cards for her friends. She is having so much fun in school and delights in all the special celebrations.


xoxo

beth

Super Bowl Sunday

Feb. 6

We had our own little Super Bowl Party.


We are Packer fans by default...preselected before birth. You see, my Dad is from Wisconsin and he is one of the biggest fans ever! So we support that he supports them.



Andrew is wearing a sweatshirt that used to be Papa's....he wore it with respect.



Ron looks like a Steelers fan in his jersey but he is not....that's his Army jersey.



Adam was also routing for Packers but wearing a soccer jersey because.....hmmmm...I have not the slightest clue.


It's bed time and the kids were fading but we watched the game until the very end.


Packers: 31 Steelers: 25


It was a great game!!! There was a lot of whooping and hollering around here.

Lucey's Big Girl Bed

February 5

We moved Lucey into a big girl bed and out of her crib. She was more than ready. She has been night time trained (no pull-ups) since last year some time and she was telling us, "I need a big girl bed so I can go to the bathroom at night." She would call us on the monitor at night to let us know her needs. She actually sleeps all night now and on the occasion she has to "go," she still calls us from her bed.


I love this "cutie petutie" picture of her getting ready to leave for ballet class.




The big girl bed. We used one of the twin bunks sitting in our basement. I looked all over for a bed for her and thought....why not use what we have. The room is still not complete not knowing if we were moving or not. I think we are staying so I need to add some drapes and re hang her pictures. The moving/staying part...for another post. Now that has been one crazy roller coaster ride. And oh, she has already had one major nose bleed on this bedding. A trip to the commercial machine and some bleach did the trick!!! Thankfully.




She loves all her little treasures....she is all girls and loves to have them displayed.




I am going to hang these toile prints about the dresser. I'd like to paint the dresser too. The dresser used to belong to the twins.




This water color came from my dear friend's antique store....Thank you, Bunny!!! I had it re-framed and it now hangs above Lucey's bed. A beautiful touch.




Our girl is growing up!


Chinese New Year

February 3


Our sweet neighbor popped over to our house on this morning to give Lucey a red envelope. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits. The amount of money contained in the envelope usually ends with an even digit and sure enough, there was a $2 bill inside. It's been wonderful being surrounded by neighbors who are Asian and include us in their traditions. We are always being showered with yummy food from neighbors on both sides of us. They adore Lucey and show her lots of attention. (Adam and Lin broke up in late January....we will miss Lin. Lucey talks about her and misses her. We missed her celebrating Chinese New Year with us. They are starting to become friends again. I'm glad.)




Ron was out of town and we had evening activities so we had a quick dinner together and we fudged a little....we ordered from our favorite Thai restaurant. They have the best food. So we ate Pad Thai noodles.






I decorated a little...I mainly wanted Lucey to know that her culture means so much to us. Celebrating who she is and where she comes from.


It's been so long since I have last posted. Late winter and Spring have been incredibly busy for us and I'm not as graceful as some of my blogger friends who have even more going on in their lives than I do and continue to journal and share their life stories. Those of you whom I keep up with....I'm in awe of you. You need to teach me how to organize and juggle my schedule better.




Stay tuned, I'm home today! Yippee! I'm going to try and do a blogging marathon. I am not giving up on keeping our memories journaled. I came close to quitting. Shame on me.